School paints that are designed for use with children can easily
become contaminated with bacteria or mould, this also can lead to a very strong
sickening odour.

Some school paint I found for sale in a shop that was contaminated. The paint is seperated in the bottle.

School Paint is very different to crayons and pencils as
“all children’s liquid paint is an alive product” until it dries on your
paper.No matter what brand type or
colour it will need some care to prolong its workable life.

Just like canned food in the supermarket a preservative is
added to a paint formulation to keep the paint in top condition.As this type of paint often contains
organic materials that can decay if not stored properly or if stored for a long
period of time.

School paints differ from house paint as it is used once for
one project but using School Paints we are using the same paint day after day
and again and again.Extra care is
needed to keep your products in good condition.

Here are some tips to help you store paint safely and keep
it usable for as long as possible:

Art and craft is used in the classroom in so many ways – as part of learning
to read, as a follow up on social studies lesson and of course an art lesson.

I found this simple and short video by waysandhow that outlines some great basic ideas for
art and craft in the classroom.It’s
worth watching as you never know you may pick up even just one basic tip that
might help you.

This is quick, colourful and easy.It is block printing at its simplest form using
a Tempera Poster Paint with fingers and kids do love pushing paint around with their
fingers.

This week we had fun exploring colours with this simple printing
technique by seeing what we could do with just one colour.

Mono Printing for Kids with school paints

You will need:: Sketch Paper
: Tempera Paint in simple bold colours
: Paint pots or dishes.
: Printing plate: (old plastic placemat, styrofoam board, any flat non-porous
surface). We used a small sheet of plexiglas.You can use a wipe-able bench top.
: Roller or a wide paint brush.
: Apron and a cover sheet, newspapers or paper towels.

Let’s get started:

Monoprints are about a simple and quick one colour art form in
that you cover a large area of the printing plate with a tempera paint. Your images
are created by finger painting a basic design in the paint on the plate.Then you gently place your paper over the
design and lift it off.

Mono printing: Rolling out the tempera paint

1.Spread Tempera Paint evenly over your printing
plate with a wide brush or use a roller.Making sure that it is slightly smaller than your paper. It is not important to make it straight edged
in fact it adds to the final effect.

2.Using fingers draw designs on the painted area. The more simple and basic picture the better. What
you are trying to do is remove the paint with your finger. If you are not happy
with the design you can re-roll the area and start again.

3.When you're happy with your design, lay the
paper on top, making sure to cover the area with paint. Try not to press on the
painted area too much and also try not to move the paper around as it will smudge
your final design.

4.Carefully peel the paper from the printing plate
to reveal the mono printed image.

5.The printing plate can be reworked to be used
again and again for the whole class.

6.Allow to dry.

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Monoprinting Kids can make fun and interesting designs

TIPS:

-Keep it to one colour.

-Printing plate: just needs to be a wipe able
surface.

-Less is more. Try not to overdo the designs.

-Your designs will always come out in a reversed
mirror image.

-Pressing hard on the paper while printing can
turn your image into a blotchy mess.

-The children decided to do fish with blue paint
and flowers with red paint.

This is a great out door nature inspired painting
project.It’s always good to get outdoors
and let the children talk about all the colours that they can see around them
in the trees, grass and in the sky.Using these colours to create artworks is ideal for learning colour
mixing, squeezing (fine motor skills) and natural colours.It is simple quick and colourful fun.

You can use a small spray bottle filled with water to create
your own rain on a sunny day.

You can either outline with a pencil around a circular
object to make a perfect circle or you can just do it by hand to make a wonky
shape, like we did.

It is easier to use a bottle with a nozzle cap for better
control.

We used a plastic ruler.

Start from the outside and work inwards to keep the basic
shape.

Try not to use too many colours.

When you have filled in the shape use a blunt straight edged
object and drag from the inside to the outer edge.We used a plastic ruler.You will need to wipe clean your object
making sure you have no paint on it each time you drag through the paint.

Allow to dry.Because
this is thick painting it might take some time.

TIPS:

It is better to use card or thicker paper as the
paint is thick and will soak through normal paper.

Marbling
usually involves oil based paints and turpentine. The end result is very effective,
however the necessary materials are not usually close at hand and cleaning up
can pose some problems. Marbling with Powder Paint is easy and economical.

Mix
a small amount of cooking oil with some powder paint. A couple of
tablespoonful's of mixture is enough. The proportions of oil to paint can be
decided on and adjusted as the marbling takes place.

Use a brush to shake drops
of mixture onto the surface of the water in the tray. Gently stir the water to
mingle the colours.

Lay a piece of paper on the surface of the water to pick up
the paint.

Repeat the last step until the colour is fading, then add some more
paint to the surface of the water.

So often I see people who are trying to learn how to paint
and they choose to paint a portrait of their friend, son or daughter.Often, it is their dog or cat that gets the treatment.

I know that what one artist thinks is difficult, another
will find easier, but I have never met one artist yet who has found the above
subjects easy!

Portrait of Norman Rockwell Painting the Soda Jerk

Why are portraits so hard? Several reasons actually…

1.Every one of us is an expert on the anatomy of
humans and animals. We may not be able to recall and draw every detail, but if
you get it slightly wrong even a young child knows there is something that
doesn’t look right.

Eyes too small or one above the other, nose
in the wrong place, relative to other details, mouth too big, not straight or ears
in the wrong position.A variation of a
tiny fraction of a millimetre can make one eye to float above or below the
other.

2.Trying to place details that have to obey the
laws of the perspective onto a circular object, namely the head requires much
planning, observation and skill

3.Any variations in the above will lose the element
of likeness.What makes one person look different
to another? Fine details MUST be right.

Conclusion:

If you are trying to master any particular medium you have
enough problems without the above. Choose a subject that doesn’t add to your
troubles. It is commonly accepted that 1000 paintings is the “apprenticeship”
in any one medium.And that portraits
are for the “master craftsman” only.

So why try to buy a Rolls-Royce for your first car?

Until you have finished 1000 paintings in that medium don’t
attempt portraits.Any landscape is a
piece of cake in comparison.

If it is worth spending the time to paint something it is
worth a few moments to create something to frame it.

This is more than often overlooked; it is a small thing that
can highlight the mood by adding impact and spice to any artwork. Plus it does look great.

You can paint a boarded frame before or after you have finished
your painting.But another popular idea
for the classroom is to make a boarded frame on a larger piece of paper separately
and add it to the completed painting later. This is what we have done
here.

Frame your artwork with another larger sheet of paper.

Tips:

Paste sheets of colour paper on a larger board like we did
with the clown painting.

Use another sheet of paper to cover and protect your
painting while you paint a frame.